Ramsey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, was founded in 969 and rapidly became one of the richest and most important Benedictine houses in the country, famous for its school and library. The Chronicon was compiled around 1170, with the addition of some later charters up to 1200. The author is unknown. Parts 1-3 cover the foundation of the abbey, the miracles of St Oswald, and a collection of charters relating to grants to the abbey prior to 1066. Part 4 is a register of legal documents dating from 974 to 1200. The contents are valuable not just for the history of Ramsey, but as illustrations of twelfth-century legal practice. The appendices include a list of abbots to 1471, the catalogue of the monastic library, and a continuation of the history of the abbey from 1285 to 1332. This edition was originally published in 1886, with a glossary, index and English side-notes to the Latin text. The abbey's three-volume cartulary is also reissued in this series.
